Human Trafficking in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]
Street Children in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]
 

Child Prostitution

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Kyrgyz Republic [map] is located in central Asia, bordering on China (SE), Kazakhstan (N), Uzbekistan (W), and on Tajikistan (SW). Bishkek, the capital, and Osh are the chief cities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Republic entered a period of social, political and economic transition making life especially difficult for women and children.

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UNICEF - The Big Picture

National Plan of Action

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Children are reported to work as prostitutes in urban areas throughout the country. The Kyrgyz Republic is considered to be primarily a country of origin and transit for the trafficking of children. While the extent of the problem is unknown, there are reports of girls trafficked for prostitution to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and South Korea. The IOM reported girls as young as 10 years old are trafficked abroad.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – A flourishing commercial sex industry exploited girls as young as age 10 from destitute mountain villages.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2004

[61] The Committee is concerned that the recommendations made upon consideration of the State party’s initial report with regard to the involvement of children in sexual exploitation have not been fully implemented. The Committee is also concerned about the health risks posed to children who are sexually exploited and/or trafficked.

ECPAT: Fifth Report on implementation of the Agenda for Action [DOC]

[B] COUNTRY UPDATES – KYRGYZ REPUBLIC – In the “New Generation” plan, there are four paragraphs relating to sexual exploitation. The document says that measures should be reinforced against those who involve children in prostitution. Furthermore it stipulates the need to provide rehabilitation and education for victims of violence and the creation and financing of rehabilitation centers, as well as the creation of a system for registering children who suffer abuse.

Report by Special Rapporteur [DOC]

[50] Sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography are criminal offences, and anyone over the age of 16 who involves children in these crimes incurs liability.  The Commission on Juveniles’ Affairs is responsible for young offenders in some cases, including where children are below the age of criminal responsibility, but they do not have a special mandate for cases of child prostitution, and judges, prosecutors and social workers who deal with children’s concerns do not receive specialized training.

[51] In 2001, the Kyrgyz Government launched “New Generation”, a National Plan of Action for Children’s Rights, and in April 2002 launched a National Program on the Elimination of Human Trafficking and Sale of People, aiming at the prevention of these violations, improvement of law-enforcement bodies and migration structures, and assistance and rehabilitation for victims to return to their countries.  The Plan for Children’s Rights does not include provisions related to sale of children, child prostitution or child pornography, and the National Program launched in 2002 does not include special provisions for children.  There is a lack of data as to the number of children involved in sale, trafficking, prostitution and pornography, and data about relevant prosecutions is not made available to civil society on the grounds of State secrecy.

ECPAT: National Consultation on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)

Increasingly vulnerable children represent a potential source of income for various forms of individual and organized criminality that over the past few years have enormously increased their activities and turnover by exploiting young victims through prostitution; trafficking for sexual and other purposes; and child pornography.

ECPAT: Situational Analysis of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children ... [PDF]

[7.2] SCOPE AND DYNAMICS OF CSEC - The percentage of prostituted children in Bishkek is estimated by the respondents quite realistically: 5-10%. Girls are more likely than boys to be involved in sexual exploitation. In spite of the fact that girls as young as 11 years old work, there is a greater demand for girls who are 14 years old and above. There is also a constant, though relatively small, demand for virgins.

OMCT: Rights of the Child in Kyrgyzstan [DOC]

[5c] SEXUAL ABUSE, TRAFFICKING AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION - Indeed, child prostitution is thriving in Kyrgyzstan. Teenage girls engage or are forced into prostitution for socio-economic reasons. But in addition to sexual exploitation, they face all sorts of violence. It is not infrequent for clients or pimps to beat the girls and gang rape them. The State party report estimates that 10% of people involved in prostitution are minors. According to other sources, in Bishkek 20% of 2000 prostitutes are teenagers.

A recent field investigation was carried out by IWPR, in four of the five Central Asian republics, on the phenomenon of child prostitution. The research confirmed that child prostitution is widespread in Kyrgyzstan, although hidden at first sight from foreigners, especially in big towns. Children involved in prostitution are to be found in private homes converted into brothels or in discreet clubs. The majority are aged 11-16, with boys involved too.

CRC: NGO Commentaries to the Initial Report - viii. Special Protection Measures [DOC]

[C]. CHILDREN SUFFERING EXPLOITATION – [3] SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE - Prostitution is a serious and growing social problem in the Kyrgyz Republic. A number of women of various ages are illegally engaged in this sex industry. Most of them are unemployed, arriving from small towns and villages. Many of prostitutes are underage, starting from 12 or 13 years. At least 20% of 2000 prostitutes working in Bishkek are teenagers (IRS-SCF). Although religious and national traditions prohibiting pre-marriage relationship are strong in the southern part of the country, there also prostitutes of 14 and 15 years is found there. Some businessmen in Osh mentioned a place where schoolgirls provide sexual services for 50 soms (a little more than $1).

There are young women and children, some as young as 11 or 12, traveling regularly in trains for great distance with different mail companions. They provide sexual services before being left at a terminus station. On arrival at the train’s destination point, the abandoned children become street children for a day or two until they find another traveling customer.

Focus On Street Children In Bishkek

The fact is that many of the children on the street today are working to support their families, because their parents’ income no longer suffices. Many work as porters, or sell newspapers, flowers or candy, or wash cars in the streets. There have also been incidences of child prostitution.

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Center - Country Overviews

KYRGYZSTAN - Growing poverty has also led to children working in a range of jobs, from working on family farms, to agricultural labor for others, domestic service, selling or working as porters at markets. Recent research estimate that approximately 24 per cent of children work either full or part time, similarly since transition there are now homeless or 'street' children in Kyrgyzstan's cities, and some reports of child prostitution and trafficking.

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) Report - Kyrgyzstan - [PDF]

[page 12] RIGHTS OF THE CHILD - Thousands of children lived in the streets, supporting themselves from begging. Moreover, according to the newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek and other sources, some 200,000 children did not attend school. Instead, many were working in bazaars or as street vendors, while many survived on stealing. Child prostitution was widespread, with young girls being subjected to beating and group rapes. Law enforcement officials sometimes caught street children and ill-treated them in order to make them “confess” offenses they had not committed, in order to boost police detection rates of crimes.

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Human Trafficking in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]
Street Children in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]
Child Prostitution in [Kyrgyz Republic] [other countries]